Quote

Thomas Paine's version of "you didn't build that":

"Separate an individual from society,and give him an island or a continent to possess,and he cannot acquire personal property. He cannot be rich. So inseparably are the means connected with the end,in all cases,that where the former do not exist the latter cannot be obtained. All accumulation, therefore,of personal property,beyond what a man's own hands produce, is derived to him by living in society; and he owes on every principle of justice,of gratitude,and of civilization,a part of that accumulation back again to society from whence the whole came"
Submitted by Leah

Administration

United States Wars, News and Casualties

The war ended for those children, but it has never ended for survivors who carry memories of them. Likewise, the effects of the U.S. bombings continue, immeasurably and indefensibly.

Damn The War Criminals,Bush,Cheney,Rice,Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Powell and Blair from England.

How many Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion 15 years ago? Some credible estimates put the number at more than one million. You can read that sentence again.

The invasion of Iraq is often spoken of in our country as a “blunder,” or even a “colossal mistake.” It was a crime.

Those who perpetrated it are still at large. Some of them have even been rehabilitated thanks to the horrors of a mostly amnesiac citizenry.

We condemned children to death, some after many days of writhing in pain on bloodstained mats, without pain relievers. Some died quickly, wasted by missing arms and legs, crushed heads. As the fluids ran out of their bodies, they appeared like withered, spoiled fruits. They could have lived, certainly should have lived – and laughed and danced, and run and played- but instead they were brutally murdered. Yes, murdered!

The McGlynn

War News

FILE – In this Aug. 25, 2018 file image made from video, a severely malnourished seven-year-old Amal Hussein — whose name means “hope” in Arabic, is weighed at the Aslam Health Center in Hajjah, Yemen. On Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018, Geert Cappelaere called the situation a “living hell” for all Yemeni children, noting the death of Amal a child whose emaciated body gained attention on the front page of the New York Times last week. In a speech delivered in Amman Cappelaere said, “There is not one Amal — there are many thousands of Amals.” (AP Photo/Hammadi Issa, File)

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Troops from a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition pounded Houthi rebel positions in Yemen’s Hodeida with airstrikes and a ground assault on Wednesday and now control a major road leading into the city, military officials and witnesses on both sides of the front line said.

An Emirati-trained force known as the Giants, backed by Apache attack helicopters, secured an urban area along 50th Street, which leads to the city’s key Red Sea port facilities some 5 kilometers (3 miles) away, they added.

Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals or lack of authorization to brief journalists, they said that the Iran-backed Shiite rebels had been firing mainly from elevated and rooftop sniper positions, and have now resorted to burning tires to obscure the gunships’ view. Most civilians have fled the area, they said.

Dozens of fighters have been killed and hundreds wounded from both sides since a renewed coalition offensive on the city began five days ago, following calls by the Trump administration for a cease-fire by late November.

The fighting has left dead bodies lying on the ground and inside burnt-out vehicles at the city’s edge, according to witnesses. They said several civilians have been killed by shelling in residential areas………….A Save the Children supported health facility in Hodeida came under attack on Tuesday morning, damaging one of the pharmacies that supply life-saving medicines, the charity said in a statement.

The group said shelling has also hit residential areas in Hodeida, where the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, roughly half of them children, are in danger.

The charity did not elaborate on which group attacked the facility.

The head of the U.N.’s food and agriculture agency and other groups say the conflict has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine, underlining how the international community is failing to end hunger.

This undated photo provided by the Utah National Guard shows Maj. Brent Taylor of the Utah National Guard. Taylor, former mayor of North Ogden, died in Afghanistan on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018, City Councilman Phillip Swanson said. Taylor was deployed to Afghanistan in January with the Utah National Guard for what was expected to be a 12-month tour of duty. Taylor previously served two tours in Iraq and one tour in Afghanistan. (Courtesy of Utah National Guard via AP)

NORTH OGDEN, Utah (AP) — The wife of a Utah mayor and Army National Guard member who was killed in Afghanistan by one of his Afghan trainees says there is “heartache but no regret.”

Brent Taylor, 39, took a yearlong leave of absence as mayor of North Ogden north of Salt Lake City for his deployment to Afghanistan, where he was training commandos. He was killed in Saturday’s attack from small arms fire, military officials said.

Taylor, a major and military intelligence officer with Joint Force Headquarters, was expected to return to his mayoral job in January and come home to his wife, Jennie, and their seven children ranging from 11 months to 13 years old.

“When I asked Jennie what she would like me to say when we came out, she said that there is heartache but no regret,” said Kristy Pack, Jennie Taylor’s sister, speaking Sunday night outside the family’s home.

Taylor served two tours in Iraq and was on his second tour in Afghanistan. His remains are scheduled to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Monday evening.

“When a man like Brent has the desire to bring freedom to others and to serve his country, and he gives his life to that cause, in our view there’s not a whole lot of room for anger,” Pack said. “We are so proud of the way he lived — proud of the way he gave his life.”

Earlier Sunday, Maj. Gen. Jefferson S. Burton, the adjutant general of the Utah National Guard, told reporters that Taylor’s mission was to help train and build the capacity of the Afghan national army.

“He was with folks he was helping and training. That’s what’s so painful about this. It’s bitter,” Burton said. “I do believe that Major Taylor felt he was among friends, with people he was working with.”

Utah media outlets cited a statement from NATO saying that Taylor was shot by one of the commandos being trained and that the attacker was killed by Afghan forces.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Taylor “was there to help. He was a leader. He loved the people of Afghanistan… This is a sad day for Utah, for America.”

“Brent was a hero, a patriot, a wonderful father, and a dear friend,” U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said on Twitter. “News of his death in Afghanistan is devastating. My prayers and love are with Jennie and his seven young children. His service will always be remembered.”

Taylor in January when he was being deployed told local media that he was assigned to serve on an advisory team training the staff of an Afghan commando battalion.

Hundreds of residents of North Ogden, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Salt Lake City, lined the street to see him off as police escorted him and his family around the community of about 17,000.

Taylor became the city’s mayor in 2013.

CAIRO (AP) — Aid groups warned of the plight of civilians in Yemen’s contested Hodeida where casualties are mounting as a Saudi-led coalition is fighting to take the port city from the country’s Shiite rebels.

Separate from the warning, a collection of aid groups, including CARE and 34 others, issued a statement on Thursday, calling for an immediate cease-fire in Yemen.

Amnesty International warned late Wednesday that rebels have taken up positions on a Hodeida hospital rooftop, raising concerns they are using the hospital’s patients as human shields to ward off coalition airstrikes. Doctors Without Borders, meanwhile, said it was treating two dozen wounded from the latest offensive.

The push against the Iran-backed rebels also known as Houthis who are holding Hodeida began anew this month, shortly after the United States called for a cease-fire by the end of the month.

Apparently in a rush to try to take Hodeida before then, coalition artillery, helicopter gunships and airstrikes have pounded the rebels, with dozens killed on both sides. The rebels admit they are outnumbered but have vowed to fight on.

Cease-fires in Yemen’s civil war have rarely held, and peace talks have repeatedly broken down in the past.

Amnesty urged the warring sides to protect civilians. It said that the coalition, which relies heavily on air power, has killed scores of civilians in recent airstrikes, and rebels are responding with mortars in residential neighborhoods that cause indiscriminate casualties.

The battle for the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah has intensified, as government forces backed by Saudi-led coalition air strikes advance on rebel positions.

More than 150 people are reported to have been killed since troops and militiamen stepped up a ground assault on the city’s outskirts last Thursday.

The UN and charities say the fighting is also endangering medical facilities and hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Hudaydah’s port is a lifeline for millions of Yemenis at risk of famine.

Up to 80% of the humanitarian supplies, fuel and commercial goods on which they depend are delivered through the facility. UN officials have warned that the toll in lives could be catastrophic if it is damaged, destroyed or blocked.

Yemen has been devastated by a conflict that escalated in 2015, when Arab states intervened after the rebel Houthi movement seized control of much of the west of the country and forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.

At least 6,660 civilians have been killed and 10,560 injured in the war, according to the UN. The fighting and a partial blockade by the coalition have also left 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid, created the world’s largest food security emergency, and led to a cholera outbreak that has affected 1.1 million people.

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (Reuters) – The Taliban have infiltrated a strategic district in southeastern Afghanistan and fought with members of the Shi’ite Hazara minority, officials said on Thursday, a week after militants and a Shi’ite militia clashed in a central province.

Insurgents raided the Jaghori district in Ghazni province on Wednesday, aiming to regain control of a Shi’ite-dominated region that allows women to move freely and encourages higher female participation in government.

The attacks on Jaghori by the Taliban, a militant group made up mainly of ethnic Pashtun Sunni Muslims, have heightened fears of a new surge of sectarian violence in Afghanistan.

The violence has also highlighted concerns that Hazaras, members of a mainly Shi’ite minority, may take up arms in frustration at a lack action by the central government.

Abdul Qayum Sajjadi, a lawmaker in Ghazni province, said President Ashraf Ghani’s Western-backed government was negligent……………The fighting marks the end of a deal made between Jaghori’s village elders and the Taliban made a decade ago.

Under the agreement, the Taliban allowed girls to attend schools and colleges, and women to drive vehicles in the district.

In return, the local militias did not oppose the limited Taliban control in the district.

Council member Ghulam Hussain Changiz in eastern Ghazni province says the insurgents attacked a police outpost early on Thursday morning in Khugyani district, killing eight policemen, including a district commander.

The attack set of a firefight that lasted for hours until the government sent reinforcements and drove Taliban from the compound. He says the Taliban still managed to confiscate weapons and ammunition.

The Taliban also attacked a police outpost in central Wardak province on Thursday morning, killing five policemen. Police spokesman Hekmat Durrani says three policemen were wounded.

Near-daily Taliban attacks on Afghan security forces have been relentless in recent months.

GHAZNI, Afghanistan — The Taliban have infiltrated a strategic district in southeastern Afghanistan and fought with members of the Shi’ite Hazara minority, officials said on Thursday, a week after militants and a Shi’ite militia clashed in a central province.

Insurgents raided the Jaghori district in Ghazni province on Wednesday, aiming to regain control of a Shi’ite-dominated region that allows women to move freely and encourages higher female participation in government.

The attacks on Jaghori by the Taliban, a militant group made up mainly of ethnic Pashtun Sunni Muslims, have heightened fears of a new surge of sectarian violence in Afghanistan.

The violence has also highlighted concerns that Hazaras, members of a mainly Shi’ite minority, may take up arms in frustration at a lack action by the central government.

The security officials have not commented regarding the casualties of the security forces during the clashes.

However, the local officials in Ghazni had earlier said at least three policemen lost their lives and five others sustained injuries during the initial hours of the clash.

Recent Casualties:

Color Denotes Today’s Confirmation

MSN November 3rd The mayor of North Ogden, Utah was killed Saturday on duty in Afghanistan as part of Utah’s National Guard.

Brent Taylor was killed Saturday in an “insider attack” in Kabul, according to a statement from the Utah National Guard to Fox 13 Salt Lake City, while the terrorist responsible was immediately killed by Afghan forces.

“These reports also indicate the attacker was immediately killed by other Afghan Forces,” the statement said. “The incident is under investigation.”

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operations Resolute Support and Freedom’s Sentinel.

Spc. James A. Slape, 23, from Morehead City, North Carolina, died Oct. 4, 2018, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, as a result of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device. The incident is under investigation.

Slape was assigned to 60th Troop Command, North Carolina Army National Guard, Washington, North Carolina.